


See My Emotions, Hear My Emotions

by CupcakeQueen816



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Not too much, Papillon10, Soulmate AU, but i want the children to stay innocent, i did them all combined, i love my children, lol what's dialogue?, mlsecretsanta2k19, oops there's a reveal, rated T for a sprinkle of language, so imagine every basic soulmate au story, sorry its late, they have different types of bonds, theyre both oblivious dorks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:27:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22124821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CupcakeQueen816/pseuds/CupcakeQueen816
Summary: Soulmate AUShe sees his emotions as colors.He hears her emotions as thoughts."It took twelve months for Adrien to recognize the voice. Another three to realize how it was possible to hear battle related thoughts during akuma attacks when he was sure that the voice belonged to the girl in his class he was desperately trying to get closer to. And another three months of trying to get her to figure out that, not only was he her soulmate, he was her partner."
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 8
Kudos: 275





	See My Emotions, Hear My Emotions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Papillon10](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Papillon10/gifts).



> My Secret Santa gift to Papillon10! valiantlyjollynightmare on tumblr
> 
> So I'm awful at writing dialogue, so I hope this is entertaining enough as mostly prose! 
> 
> Sorry this is late. I'm the absolute worst. I hit a really bad patch of writer's block and ran out of time to edit before the month was out.
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy!

Today was tinged gray. Most days were, and it always disappointed Marinette that her soulmate never got to experience joy, love, sadness, anger, anything but that awful, monotonous gray. She woke everyday hoping her sight would brighten more than just a flash of yellow, pink--even blue or red.

Marinette had always tried to feel her emotions to the fullest. She hoped her own flashes of color would make her soulmate’s day a bit more enjoyable, a bit more lively.

But today was tinged gray and Marinette was disheartened. She vowed that as soon as she met her soulmate, they would never be left in that lonely, melancholy gray again.

* * *

Today was another lonely day. Not as lonely as they had been a year ago, but still lonely. The only companion Adrien had anymore was his soulmate’s thoughts. After only a year of being partially bonded, Adrien already loved her. Getting glimpses of her thoughts whenever she felt something so strongly, so purely that it became undiluted, unequivocal, clear emotion that couldn’t be contained in just her own mind, had taught him so much about her already.

He knew his soulmate was a she. Her thoughts echoed in such a high, sweet voice that he couldn’t help but pay attention to. She was so passionate and joyful. Most of the time when he could hear her, she was bursting with joy, almost too much for her body. He felt satisfaction with her whenever she completed a project, got a good grade, or spent time with her parents.

He figured out quickly that she had a color bond, not a thought bond like him. She also thought he had a color bond too, if her insistent thoughts about hoping he would get a bright color to give some variety in his life were any indication. He supposed she had no reason to think otherwise; soulmate bonds tended to be the same for both soulmates. But he was glad she couldn’t hear his thoughts. He didn’t get to feel exuberant happiness as often as she, and what thoughts she would hear would not be as common or happy as her own.

Hearing her thoughts were the highlight of his day. He hoped she could see in yellow when he did hear her.

* * *

Marinette had learned about soulmates when she was very young.

Her parents had always seemed to know things, understand things, feel things about each other without saying anything at all.

When she finally thought to ask, she learned she was right. They didn’t say anything, they thought it.

Everyone has a soulmate bond. From the time they are born, they have a potential bond, things too uncertain to give any information.

Anywhere between one and two years before a person met their soulmate, a partial bond forms -- any number of different possibilities to link them to, give them a clue to, their soulmate. Some people became partially colorblind, only able to see their soulmate’s eye color; some get words on their wrists, describing what their favorite qualities of their soulmate would be. Hundreds of other bonds can form, guiding soulmates to each other.

When a person meets their soulmate, their bond changes. It grows stronger, more potent.

Finally, when someone realizes their soulmate, and truly knows and begins to love reciprocally, their bond is completely fulfilled. You are privy to all their thoughts and emotions, their struggles and triumphs.

Marinette longed for the day she would feel the bond, a connection to someone made especially to love and be loved by her.

* * *

All Adrien knew about soulmates was what the Internet told him. His parents were so private about their bond, never mentioning the details. He assumed his mother was going to tell him someday, but that wasn’t an option now, and his father certainly wasn’t going to spare enough time to explain it. So to the Internet he turned.

He found a wealth of wiki pages, blog posts, anonymous questions, all detailing the how, what, when, and more of soulmate bonds. “How to Keep a Secret From Your Soulmate” “What do you do if your soulmate doesn’t like you back” “I’m seventeen and don’t have a bond yet. I am broken” He couldn’t wait until his bond formed.

That day came when he was thirteen. While in the middle of a history lesson with the newest tutor who would once again fail to live up to his father’s requirements, his head was flooded with a thought that was not his own.

A feminine voice piped up in his head, sounding confused as she questioned, Why is everything gray?

He clutched at his head, letting out a gasp. The tutor whirled around, cutting off his lecture with a glare.

Adrien quickly stood up, still clutching his head.

“Uh, sorry, sir, but I think I have a headache. Please tell Natalie I will continue when I feel well."

He rushed to his room before he could garner a response.

That day, Adrien and Marinette both lay on their beds, confused at their new developments. Looks like things were about to get a lot more interesting.

* * *

Marinette had gotten used to the flashes of gray by now. The first six months had comprised only of those dull, monotone snippets, but other colors had started as soon as school started, and had lasted through the last sixteen months.

The color bursts had become more inconvenient whenever she was designing, but usually any mistakes with color were easy to correct when her vision went back to normal. If she was focused enough, she didn’t even notice they were happening until after they were over, and she was suddenly hit with an explosion of the full spectrum of color.

Her friends and family had learned how to tell when her soulmate was feeling something strongly. She would be in the middle of a sentence or taking notes in class or helping her parents in the bakery, when suddenly Marinette would get a glassy look in her eyes and pause whatever she was in the middle of doing. After a moment, she would resume her task, blinking quickly to get used to the change.

* * *

It took twelve months for Adrien to recognize the voice. Another three to realize how it was possible to hear battle related thoughts during akuma attacks when he was sure that the voice belonged to the girl in his class he was desperately trying to get closer to. And another three months of trying to get her to figure out that, not only was he her soulmate, he was her partner. Three months of thinking ecstatic thoughts purposefully at moments when she should’ve had to realize what was going on, in and out of the masks.

* * *

It had been three months. Three months of crazy, unexpected, indecipherable embarrassing flashes of color at the most inopportune moments: in class, during akuma attacks, class outings where a certain blond she could only dream of being bonded to was happening to attend. You would almost suspect her soulmate was doing it on purpose.

It had taken one particular incident for her to realize that little shit was.

Marinette and Alya were walking into school (for once, she had actually gotten up on time. That is, Alya had remembered to get to the bakery early with enough time for Marinette to get ready). In the midst of a heated discussion of the last akuma fight, Marinette was stunned by a sudden color from her soulmate. The yellow was so bright it practically blinded her. Stumbling from shock, she tripped up the step she was about to climb and let out a shriek. (Adrien heard a very clear and loud _oh shit_ in his head). Bracing herself for the impact, Marinette found herself not on the hard stone beneath her at all. Instead, she found herself surrounded by strong arms and warm cotton. (Another _oh shit_ sounded off).

Looking up, Marinette confirmed that, yes, _oh shit_ was right.

“Hi, Adrien…”

“Hey Marinette! Are you okay?” There was a funny look on his face, but that was probably just because he was weirded out by her antics. Again.

“Fine! I mean, yeah! Umm.. I just uh was surprised. At my soulmate! Not you! Not that it’s not a nice surprise to see you! Uh, anyway… I just wasn’t expecting my bond to go off.” Marinette groaned internally. She hadn’t stuttered around him in months, and now of all times it was starting up again!  
“Oh, that’s fine!” Adrien was always so kind to her. She hoped he wasn’t weirded out by her sudden resurgence of word atrophy. “My soulmate surprises me all the time. Just now, she cursed a bunch of times in a row. I hope she’s okay…”

And there it was. Why was it that lately he’d been bringing up his soulmate in practically every conversation? At least it reminded her mouth that she didn’t need to stutter around him anymore.

“Um… yeah. I hope she is too.” For some reason, he laughed at that.

“You would, Marinette, wouldn’t you?” He seemed to notice her confused expression (or rather the quite clear Huh? intoning through his head) and quickly moved on. “Um, listen, Marinette, there’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask you…” His hand crept up to rub the back of his neck.

Her vision faded into an orange hue. Orange? Was that… nervousness?”

“Go with him, girl!” Alya whispered in her ear.

Blinking, she agreed to find a private place to meet. He grabbed her hand ( _Eeeeeee!!!!!!!_ ), and pulled her to the library, leaving Alya behind.

Settling into a seat, she turned to Adrien.

“So, um, what was it you were wanting to talk about?”

“Well, actually, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this for a while, but every time I see you, I get too nervous…”

Nervous, huh? Like… orange?

“Why would you get nervous? It’s just me. We talk all the time.” And it was true. Texting plans in a group chat, video calling when he couldn’t come to hang out, commiserating together when their best friends left them behind practically every outing since they realized their bond.

“Well, it’s just that, I’ve figured out who my soulmate is.”

And her world froze. Oh, god, who was the lucky girl?

“That’s… that’s great, Adrien!” She felt herself plaster on the most genuine smile she could muster. This was a good thing, right? Adrien deserved to find his someone. “How did your talk go?”

“I, um actually… haven’t told her yet. I don’t think she knows?” (Adrien knew he better get to the point. Marinette may have been sounding cheerful, but her thoughts sounded disappointed. Why would she be disappointed?)

“Well… Do you need my help to, um, tell her?”

“No! Um… That is, I need to tell her right now.” The orange in her vision faded into something else. Was that… pink?

“Now? What are you waiting for? Go!”

But he didn’t move. Slowly, it dawned on Marinette that maybe he didn’t need to.

“Okay… um wow, this is harder than I thought it would be. Marinette,” Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself. “I’m Chat Noir.” (Wait. That wasn’t what he was supposed to start with! He winced as her thoughts grew pissed off.)

“Chat Noir? I thought you and Ladybug weren’t supposed to tell anyone who you were—especially not civilians like m-”

“I know you’re Ladybug.” (There goes another  _ shit _ sounding off in his head.)

“What? How-”

“Last year, I started hearing this voice in my head. I realized it was my soulmate, whenever she would get so emotional she could barely think, I would hear what she did think. It became my favorite part of any day, the moments when I got to hear her voice. And then, a few months ago, we started hanging out more. I-I guess I just started to recognize your voice? And after that it was kind of hard to not recognize the voice in my head yelling when we were fighting akumas… I’ve been too nervous to talk to you about it, but, Marinette, we’re soulmates.” He had turned away from her sometime in the middle of his word-vomit, but he turned back to her now with a hopeful expression.

“S-soulmates? Do you really think?”

“Yeah… I wasn’t completely sure until just a minute ago. Your thoughts after I told you I knew kinda gave it away…”

“Oh. Shit.”

_ Yeah, there it is… _ He laughed. The pink tint made sense now. Wait. He hadn’t said that out loud…

She decided to try something.

_ Adrien? _

_ Yeah? _

So it worked.

_ I’m really glad you’re my soulmate. _

_ Marinette? _

_ Yeah? _

_ I’m really glad you’re mine. _

She looked up at him, smiling, and grabbed his hand. They were going to be late for class.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! I went out of my comfort zone to write this, and I hope it payed off!


End file.
